[PPT] - Creative Encoding Ian Michael Waddell | DHum 150 | 25 Feb 2019 You PowerPoint Presentation

SLIDE 1

Creative Encoding

Ian Michael Waddell | DHum 150 | 25 Feb 2019

SLIDE 2

You Will Select a Decision

by Brendan Patrick Hennessy (2013)

SLIDE 3

How is this both a story and a game?

SLIDE 4

Definitions of Interactive Fiction

“Interactive fiction is any story which cannot be told without interaction from its reader”

-sub-q magazine

“What the Heck is Interactive Fiction?” Feb 12, 2019.

SLIDE 5

Definitions of Interactive Fiction

“a kind of video game where the player’s interactions primarily involve text”

-Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation

Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation, “Frequently Asked Questions About Interactive Fiction.” Accessed 23 Feb 2019.

SLIDE 6

Definitions of Interactive Fiction

“The interactor, confronting … an interactive fiction work, is a reader and also a writer”

-Nick Montfort

Nick Montfort, Twisty Little Passages. MIT Press, 2003.

SLIDE 7

Digital interactive fiction is a kind of video game (a video game that tells stories and is focused on text) AND Interactive fiction is a type of literature (where the reader is an active participant)

SLIDE 8

Forms of Interactive Fiction - Parser

Earliest form of digital interactive fiction; began

with Adventure in 1975 by Will Crowther

Uses the parser (variation of command line) for

entering commands; less accessible for newcomers

Games tend to focus on the setting or the world;

privileges open, player-directed exploration

SLIDE 9

Lost Pig

by Admiral Jota (2007)

SLIDE 10

Forms of Interactive Fiction - Hypertext

Often considered its own category; leans more on

the story end of the story-game spectrum

A series of links or hypertexts embedded within the

text

“... can offer a feeling of exploration of a different

sort than that found in parser IF” (IFTF)

SLIDE 11

Forms of Interactive Fiction - Choice

Series of choices presented for the player, either

through a menu (CYOA/choice-based) or with links embedded within the text (hypertext)

Can be digital or physical
Narrative branches/paths often more explicit
Often less exploratory and more temporal (choices

tend to have more weight, move the story forward)

SLIDE 12

When one creates IF, are they writing a story,

r programming a

game?

SLIDE 13

Creating Interactive Fiction

Formerly, a programming background (or the patience to learn

programming skills) was assumed of a new IF author

Ongoing effort by some developers to lower the barriers of entry

LEFT: Inform 6, developed in 1993, which uses a traditional programming syntax RIGHT: Inform 7, developed in 2006, which uses a “natural language” syntax

SLIDE 14

Twine

The development of Twine in 2009 was a major step forward in

eliminating barriers to writing hypertext/choice-based IF

Twine is free; open-source; incredibly easy to use; allows the user

to export their games directly to HTML, ready for publishing

nline
No programming experience required; however, you can augment

your Twine works with custom HTML/CSS/Javascript if you so choose

SLIDE 15

Twine’s Accessibility

"Twine's financial and technical accessibility are major reasons for its broad adoption, especially among economically marginalised, non-traditional game designers ... People who might otherwise never make a videogame make them with Twine" (11)

merritt k, editor. Videogames for Humans. instar books, 2013.

SLIDE 16

“Twine Renaissance”

“The Internet in particular has made self-publishing and distributing games both possible and easy. Authors are able to not only put their works online but to find audiences for them. Publishers want to be the gatekeepers of video games, but the Internet has opened those gates" --Anna Anthropy

Anna Anthropy, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters. Seven Stories Press, 2012.

SLIDE 17

“Twine Renaissance”

"The problem with games in general ... is that mainstream games are really depersonalised ... I think that what I want to see more of in game is the personal—games that speak to me as a human being, that are relatable, which is the opposite of the big publisher games that I

see. People who are creating personal games aren't hundred-person

teams, they are people working at homes, making games with free software of their own experiences" --Anna Anthropy

“Anna Anthropy and the Twine Revolution.” The Guardian, 10 Apr 2013.

SLIDE 18

You are standing at the entrance of a grocery store.

SLIDE 19

.. that’s a lot of choices, hey?

Implementing multiple stories/paths is really hard

○ Each choice might be valid, but implementing them all would amount to an unrealistic amount of work from the author

There’s a fine line between handholding the player (which

removes the allure of interactivity) vs too many choices (which is too hard for the author to make)

Designing narratives in games is often about restriction—what the

player can and cannot do, and how this affects their play experience

SLIDE 20

How do we structure our ideas in a manner which is both responsive to the player and manageable for the writer?

SLIDE 21

Time Cave

Most common to CYOA stories
Generally short, but broad; lots of content and possibility (the

story could go anywhere)

Heavily branched, with little to no re-merging of branches
Privileges openness & freedom; spatial and temporal movement

Sam Kabo Ashwell, “Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games.” 26 Jan 2015.

SLIDE 22

Entrance to Grocery Store

Go to the Produce Section Go to the Frozen Food Aisle Apples? Oranges? Pizza? Perogies?

Chronic apple shortage! POISON apple! Slip on an errant

range!

The

range is

cursed Recruited for pizza delivery Get stuck in freezer The perogies are also cursed Praised for yr good taste

SLIDE 23

Gauntlet

Generally linear & constrained; the player proceeds along a

central path

branches slightly but will merge back onto the main path

depending on success/failure

SKA classifies them as “deadly” or “friendly”

Sam Kabo Ashwell, “Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games.” 26 Jan 2015.

SLIDE 24

Entrance to Grocery Store

Irritating free sample booth you can’t ignore Try to reason with the vendor

f a i l Someone from high school you would very much like to avoid (trapped in conversation) Reach the Bakery (success)

SLIDE 25

Branch and Bottleneck

Paths diverge, but will come together at common points

(“bottlenecks”) during each playthrough of the story

Allows a great amount of player agency while cohering enough to

avoid combinatorial explosion; heavily temporal

Sam Kabo Ashwell, “Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games.” 26 Jan 2015.

SLIDE 26

Quest

Quests feature distinct, modular branches; often a journey of

(geographic) exploration with a specific purpose/goal in mind

Modules often have little connection to the main quest; no

backtracking or re-merging; always moves forward

Sam Kabo Ashwell, “Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games.” 26 Jan 2015.

SLIDE 27

Loop & Grow

Looping thread which repeats over and
ver from a central node (or series of

nodes), with changes implemented with each iteration

largely static/familiar world, with

temporal and narrative momentum through each iteration

Sam Kabo Ashwell, “Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games.” 26 Jan 2015.

SLIDE 28